schochetrix
Small & Useful
Define young? 
I'm in my 40s ... not "young" ... but also plan on doing this well into my 70's!
I'm in my 40s ... not "young" ... but also plan on doing this well into my 70's!
I Broke Every Rule in Mexico and Survived...
- Thread starter cationmoted
- Start date
4x4x4doors
Explorer
Starving tourists in Mexico? My mom told me there were kids starving when I wouldn't eat my veggies but I'm sure she didn''t mention Mexico.
{ducking and running}
cationmoted
Observer
So to conclude the trip-
After waking up late we hit the lobby to soak up some wifi before hitting the road. As you can see the truck is still dripping water from our previous excursion.
We hit the road down the mountain to grab some hangover recovery street food and spotted this old girl on the side of the road. And yes I pulled over like a gringo to snap the photo.
After taking the same road and crossing the river we pushed up the other side of the mountain towards the Village of Portrero Redondo. The weather here was still wet and it showed no signs of slowing down. The road consisted of small switchbacks, a few hundred foot drop offs and a tight single lane dirt road with no room for 2 vehicles as we soon found out.
Our first encounter was an old dually F-truck loaded with locals. These are also used for the tourists who go repel the falls. Thankfully we caught him close to a switchback up the road but he wasn't keen on reversing. Soon the argument began, I didn't want to reverse 5 kilometers and he had a bigger truck. When i could tell he didn't want to back up I switched to low range and flexed up the mountain wall lifting my rear right tire. Aside from the show we were putting on it didn't make a difference on creating room. After an agonizing 5 minutes the locals and Jason backed him up 100 ft so I could pass.
Our second encounter didn't go in our favor. We ended up reversing in low range for over a Kilometer to the next switchback. Jason must have had a lot of trust in my reversing skills:bike_rider:.
The clouds were really bumming our potential views.
We arrived in the village and pulled in to a locals property where a couple vehicles were parked. After we were approached we asked permission to park while we hiked to the falls. He agreed and we paid him a small fee to use his property. We finally found the trail leading to the waterfall after getting directions from the local kids. We were told that the pack mules were not operating because the conditions were too wet. That was fine by me as after days of driving its nice get the heart pumping. We soon found we were over our heads sliding down the mountain in cowboy boots and steel toes. The local tourist we passed as we slid down could not stop laughing. What was supposed to be a 30 minute hike took us an hour. When we finally arrived to the bottom we were met with a trail horse and a donkey. From here we were stumped on where to continue on. The ground was completely eroded leaving no trace of where to go. As we continued on a voice appeared warning us that we were going the wrong way. Out of thin air the stable man appeared, I have no idea where he was but he was definitely getting a chuckle out of us. He approached us and offered to take us back up on his mules. Before I could answer, Jason immediately agreed as he was beat up from the rocks he met slipping down the trail. He led us the rest of the way to the falls.
We climbed through a small cave and were slammed with tremendous beauty (to say the least). This oasis was the sole purpose of the trip. I did it. I drove all the way to Mexico because of a picture on Google Earth and so far it was worth it. We were already soaked so I stripped some of my clothes and jumped in to the fountain of youth (which was cold as hell).
After waking up late we hit the lobby to soak up some wifi before hitting the road. As you can see the truck is still dripping water from our previous excursion
.
We hit the road down the mountain to grab some hangover recovery street food and spotted this old girl on the side of the road. And yes I pulled over like a gringo to snap the photo.
After taking the same road and crossing the river we pushed up the other side of the mountain towards the Village of Portrero Redondo. The weather here was still wet and it showed no signs of slowing down. The road consisted of small switchbacks, a few hundred foot drop offs and a tight single lane dirt road with no room for 2 vehicles as we soon found out.
Our first encounter was an old dually F-truck loaded with locals. These are also used for the tourists who go repel the falls. Thankfully we caught him close to a switchback up the road but he wasn't keen on reversing. Soon the argument began, I didn't want to reverse 5 kilometers and he had a bigger truck. When i could tell he didn't want to back up I switched to low range and flexed up the mountain wall lifting my rear right tire. Aside from the show we were putting on it didn't make a difference on creating room. After an agonizing 5 minutes the locals and Jason backed him up 100 ft so I could pass.
Our second encounter didn't go in our favor. We ended up reversing in low range for over a Kilometer to the next switchback. Jason must have had a lot of trust in my reversing skills:bike_rider:.
The clouds were really bumming our potential views.
We arrived in the village and pulled in to a locals property where a couple vehicles were parked. After we were approached we asked permission to park while we hiked to the falls. He agreed and we paid him a small fee to use his property. We finally found the trail leading to the waterfall after getting directions from the local kids. We were told that the pack mules were not operating because the conditions were too wet. That was fine by me as after days of driving its nice get the heart pumping. We soon found we were over our heads sliding down the mountain in cowboy boots and steel toes. The local tourist we passed as we slid down could not stop laughing. What was supposed to be a 30 minute hike took us an hour. When we finally arrived to the bottom we were met with a trail horse and a donkey. From here we were stumped on where to continue on. The ground was completely eroded leaving no trace of where to go. As we continued on a voice appeared warning us that we were going the wrong way. Out of thin air the stable man appeared, I have no idea where he was but he was definitely getting a chuckle out of us. He approached us and offered to take us back up on his mules. Before I could answer, Jason immediately agreed as he was beat up from the rocks he met slipping down the trail. He led us the rest of the way to the falls.
We climbed through a small cave and were slammed with tremendous beauty (to say the least). This oasis was the sole purpose of the trip. I did it. I drove all the way to Mexico because of a picture on Google Earth and so far it was worth it. We were already soaked so I stripped some of my clothes and jumped in to the fountain of youth (which was cold as hell).
Last edited:
cationmoted
Observer
The ride up on the mules was scarier than the hike down. If they slipped (which they did multiple times) we were either going to fall off a cliff side or get crushed under a small horse against sharp rocks. After arriving at our vehicle we paid off the stable man and got permission to use the property owners facilities to change into dry clothes. On the way down the clouds lifted and we were treated to majestic Mexican views.
Following two Hilux up to the main road. They people in the back were not keen on being photographed.
We slipped into the hotel (They warned us that our stay had ended at 12pm)to use WIFI and the facilities before grabbing some souvenirs from the local kiosks and heading back to Texas.
This food stand was run by a father and his teen daughter. His specials were tacos and hamburgesas.
12 tacos and 2 burgers later I can attest that he made the best damn cheeseburger I have ever had.
We grabbed some diesel and hit the road as the sun set. We got into Nuevo Laredo around 2AM. I was pretty sure the Bancerjito was closed so we attempted to find a hotel. After driving through what had to be the worst part of town we ended up scoring a nice Hotel. One thing I noticed was that almost none of the vehicles in that area had license plates:sombrero:. Later that morning we turned in our visas and vehicle permit before crossing into the United States. While we were in line on the bridge we bought a Newspaper with a Heading of 3 being killed by Narcos in Monterrey (no sensoring images in Mexico).
What can I say? The trip is one of the most amazing experiences I have had in Texas. I mean Mexico...
I cant speak for all of Mexico but in terms of safety, the places I traveled were no different to any other developing country.
My main goal in sharing this was to encourage others in proximity to Monterrey to check it out. I have wheeled in East and South Africa and this is the closest experience you can get without shipping your truck over seas. The U.S. will never run out of places to visit but you cannot compare the cultural experience. If you are getting bored of off road parks and the local paved state parks go ahead and take the leap, that's of course if the riches are worth the trouble to you.
Cheers.
Following two Hilux up to the main road. They people in the back were not keen on being photographed.
We slipped into the hotel (They warned us that our stay had ended at 12pm)to use WIFI and the facilities before grabbing some souvenirs from the local kiosks and heading back to Texas.
This food stand was run by a father and his teen daughter. His specials were tacos and hamburgesas.
12 tacos and 2 burgers later I can attest that he made the best damn cheeseburger I have ever had.
We grabbed some diesel and hit the road as the sun set. We got into Nuevo Laredo around 2AM. I was pretty sure the Bancerjito was closed so we attempted to find a hotel. After driving through what had to be the worst part of town we ended up scoring a nice Hotel. One thing I noticed was that almost none of the vehicles in that area had license plates:sombrero:. Later that morning we turned in our visas and vehicle permit before crossing into the United States. While we were in line on the bridge we bought a Newspaper with a Heading of 3 being killed by Narcos in Monterrey (no sensoring images in Mexico).
What can I say? The trip is one of the most amazing experiences I have had in Texas. I mean Mexico...
I cant speak for all of Mexico but in terms of safety, the places I traveled were no different to any other developing country.
My main goal in sharing this was to encourage others in proximity to Monterrey to check it out. I have wheeled in East and South Africa and this is the closest experience you can get without shipping your truck over seas. The U.S. will never run out of places to visit but you cannot compare the cultural experience. If you are getting bored of off road parks and the local paved state parks go ahead and take the leap, that's of course if the riches are worth the trouble to you.
Cheers.
Last edited:
cationmoted
Observer
Thanks, I find peoples fear of Mexico rather sad especially after my travels.
For sure, I will have to keep that in mind as I would like to role with more vehicles next time.
Define young?
Ahhh, what I meant is while I have time during College. Your only as old as you want to be!
Thanks for all the kind words!
piratenation90
Adventurer
Great story and pictures!